Everything Stays
by hyoriu
Summary: A sweet little one-shot inspired by the song Rebecca Sugar and Olivia Olson sang at Comic Con 2015. I hope you enjoy it :) "When everything stays..."


Carol took in a huge breath and let it slip out of her lips quietly. She tapped the ground with her foot several times before gathering the courage to knock on the door.

 _Knock knock knock!_

She rocked on her toes uneasily, clutching her wrist in nervous anticipation. Carol noticed that the clouds let no light through their great gray walls, and this made her feel somewhat sadder than what she already was. Just as Carol was about to turn around and leave, the door opened.

The two women stared at each other for a long time, an awkward silence known, yet sadly familiar to the two.

"C-come in." The woman took a step to the side, waving her shyly arm in a welcoming gesture.

"Thank you." She turned her voice into a steely, business-only tone. She took another breath before nodding and saying "Karine."

Carol walked into the house, Karine's face frowning slightly in the corner of her eye.

Karine closed the door and quickly rushed past Carol and to the kitchen table where a few small boxes lay. Carol looked around the house and was reminded of childhood memories that popped up in her head, and soon she was looking at every little thing in the house in reminiscence. She looked to the wooden floors where she played as a kid that creaked so slightly with each step, the stove and sink a few feet from table where she learned how to cook pancakes for the first time. Her eyes ventured to the left where the living room lay, the couches dark red and black still unorganized from the way Carol had rearranged them to try and give the place a new look. Her wistful eyes finally set on the stairs, where a familiar doll lay on the step. Carol's brother was home today, she remembered. He must be asleep upstairs, she thought.

"Oh, Carol!" Karine called, snapping Carol back from her thoughts, "I packed the stuff you asked for." She tapped the boxes lightly, staring at them longingly. "I still remember these things... " she sighed.

Carol pursed her lip and lowered her head, keeping her expression a mask. After another moment of silence, Karine spoke again. "You know," she tried to start a conversation again, "There are still some things in the back that belong to you... if you want them? I could show you where they are?"

Another sliver of silence before a plucked string from an instrument pierced the thick air. She looked up to the roof at the place she heard the noise and realized the kitchen was probably under her brother's room. They sat in silence as he began to play a sweet tune from a familiar string instrument. Carol smiled slightly as she realised it was the ukulele she got him for his birthday.

" _...let's go in the garden,_ " Karine started again, " _You'll find something waiting!_ " She forced a smile. " _Right there where you left it, lying upside down..._

" _When you finally find it,_ " Karine gripped her arm tightly, " _you'll see how it's faded. The underside is lighter... when you turn it around._ "

Carol, not being able to talk to Karine anymore, grabbed the boxes on the table and swiftly turned around, hastily making her way to the exit when Karine called again:

" _Everything stays!_ " Karine shouted slightly, causing Carol to halt, " _Right where you left it! Everything stays, but it still changes... ever so slightly; daily and nightly; in little ways.. when everything stays._ "

Carol's lips began trembling as blissful memories entered her thoughts, flowing through her mind along with the melody Kevin, her brother, was playing. Above he was humming a tune, and after a long while she realized that he was humming an old nursery rhyme that her mother sang to her when she was younger. At the thought, her arms began trembling and she felt tears well in her eyes. Finally, breaking under the feeling of Karine's sad stare, she revealed the truth about what happened to Karine's objects in Carol's house.

" _Everything stays!_ " Carol shouted back, " _Right where you left it! Everything stays," Carol sniffed, "But it still changes. Ever so slightly... Daily and nightly! In little ways, when everything stays..._ "

" _Ever so slightly!_ " The spoke in harmony, and Carol turned, dropping the boxes and letting the tears free.

" _Daily and nightly!_ " Karine got up from her chair and walked towards her daughter.

" _In little ways, when everything..._ " Carol rushed into her mother's arms, bawling like a newborn baby. Carol gripped her mother's shirt, and all the hate washed away and filled with love she kept down deep underneath. They had been so mean to each other, and Carol had even called her mother rudely by her name. She had no right to do that when her mother had been so nice to her over the years. In between sobs, she tried to express the feelings she had but only one word came out, and she said it so smoothly and in sync with her mother that she couldn't help being a little shocked:

" _Stays._ "


End file.
